Most Discussed

CrunchPad now called Joojoo; TechCrunch claims "ludicrous"

updated 01:15 pm EST, Mon December 7, 2009

by MacNN Staff

Joojoo tablet designed only by Fusion Garage

As promised, Fusion Garage today responded to its legal battle with TechCrunch by formally announcing its results in the wake of the CrunchPad's "death." Now called the Joojoo based on an African term for magic, the device has the familiar 12-inch capacitive touchscreen and boots into its front end as little as 9 seconds. Its main menu has visual links to common websites like Hulu and Twitter and is now known to support the offline versions of some apps, like Gmail.

The tablet is already known to be based on a 1.6GHz Intel Atom, 4GB of permanent storage and Wi-Fi for networking. It's considered a better alternative than netbooks as it's both extremely thin and weighs 2.4 pounds; battery life is rated at about 5 hours. Future versions are also likely to have 3G.

Pre-orders start on Friday the 11th and will price the tablet at $499 and ship its first units in 8 to 11 weeks. Fusion Garage chief Chandrasekar Rathakrishnan has described TechCrunch head Michael Arrington's goal of a $200 device as "unrealistic."

In a press event, Rathakrishnan flatly rejected all of Arrington's claims to ownership. He asserted that Fusion Garage owns all the intellectual property and developed all the hardware and software; he went so far as to cite an April 10th TechCrunch post that gave "all credit" to Fusion Garage for developing the product. That TechCrunch owns any IP is "simply ludicrous," according to the executive.

He added that there aren't any contracts between the two companies and that there hasn't been any notice of a lawsuit. In justifying the last-minute split from TechCrunch, he accused Arrington of not actually helping the project beyond a certain point and of providing limited marketing beyond the blog, which wasn't considered enough.

"Pictures of a birthday cake do not mean a product is complete," Rathakrishnan said.

If what Arrington says is true, they were the client and Fusion Garage the contractor. What Fusion Garage says makes no sense at all. We don't know all the details, but from the sounds of it Fusion Garage stinks.

I also agree with scottshu that you always should have contracts going into these arrangements, for Arrington's sake I hope he does.

Seriously. Apple Tablet and Chrome OS on netbooks, not to mention other competitors likely to produce a similar tablet, such as Creative. People that even know about this device do so b/c of TechCrunch and were the likely early adaptors. This JooJoo from an unknown company isn't going to make any headway.

I'm personally not a big fan of TechCrunch as many of the blog posts come across as whiny child-like ravings or as a personal soapbox based on the emotion of the week. For this along I'm willing to give Fusion Garage equal consideration in the argument. But, from what I knew, this was TechCrunches baby. Regardless, I think this is a long shot product without the possibility of a court battle, with it, just forget it.

So now it seems that the screen color was not a trick of the camera but it deliberately has different color backgrounds? Huh? Or can be changed to stay at one color? This company's work is starting to seem more and more like a scam. I'm wondering if in order to say TechCrunch has no part in the product they removed any technology that was contributed by TC until they can copycat it themselves?

I read that the Techcrunch guy is a lawyer and I'm happy he's not practicing right now. Before the two companies sat down they should have come up with a agreement/terms and conditions. Obviously no contract being signed tells me far more about the arrangement. Techcrunch guy fronts it and when he no longer of use they dump him however Fusion have all the IP because they made the thing despite the original idea coming from techcrunch guy. Also as it uses off the shelf parts there's no patent to be registered surely and if so it would be Fusion who would do it not Techcrunch guy, as they developed the software.

It's a great example of how not to run a project and will probably be used a s a case study at business schools in a few years time, especially if the JooJoo does well in the marketplace. However as we all all waiting for the Apple tablet then the Joojoo may have been in vain.

Login Here

Now AAPL Stock: 112.12 ( 0 )

Cirrus creates Lightning-headphone dev kit

Apple supplier Cirrus Logic has introduced a MFi-compliant new development kit for companies interested in using Cirrus' chips to create Lightning-based headphones, which -- regardless of whether rumors about Apple dropping the analog headphone jack in its iPhone this fall -- can offer advantages to music-loving iOS device users. The kit mentions some of the advantages of an all-digital headset or headphone connector, including higher-bitrate support, a more customizable experience, and support for power and data transfer into headphone hardware. Several companies already make Lightning headphones, and Apple has supported the concept since June 2014. http://bit.ly/29giiZj

Share

Developer162d

Apple Store app offers Procreate Pocket

The Apple Store app for iPhone, which periodically rewards users with free app gifts, is now offering the iPhone "Pocket" version of drawing app Procreate for those who have the free Apple Store app until July 28. Users who have redeemed the offer by navigating to the "Stores" tab of the app and swiping past the "iPhone Upgrade Program" banner to the "Procreate" banner have noted that only the limited Pocket (iPhone) version of the app is available free, even if the Apple Store app is installed and the offer redeemed on an iPad. The Pocket version currently sells for $3 on the iOS App Store. [32.4MB]

Share

162d

Porsche adds CarPlay to 2017 Panamera

Porsche has added a fifth model of vehicle to its CarPlay-supported lineup, announcing that the 2017 Panamera -- which will arrive in the US in January -- will include Apple's infotainment technology, and be seen on a giant 12.3-inch touchscreen as part of an all-new Porsche Communication Management system. The luxury sedan starts at $99,900 for the 4S model, and scales up to the Panamera Turbo, which sells for $146,900. Other vehicles that currently support CarPlay include the 2016 911 and the 2017 models of Macan, 718 Boxster, and 718 Cayman. The company did not mention support for Google's corresponding Android Auto in its announcement. http://bit.ly/295ZQ94

Share

Industry162d

Apple employees testing wheelchair features

New features included in the forthcoming watchOS 3 are being tested by Apple retail store employees, including a new activity-tracking feature that has been designed with wheelchair users in mind. The move is slightly unusual in that, while retail employees have previously been used to test pre-release versions of OS X and iOS, this marks the first time they've been included in the otherwise developer-only watchOS betas. The company is said to have gone to great lengths to modify the activity tracker for wheelchair users, including changing the "time to stand" notification to "time to roll" and including two wheelchair-centric workout apps. http://bit.ly/2955JDa

Share

Troubleshooting162d

SanDisk reveals two 256GB microSDXC cards

SanDisk has introduced two 256GB microSDXC cards. Arriving in August for $150, the Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Premium Edition card offers transfer speeds of up to 95MB/s for reading data. The Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card can read at a fast 100MB/s and write at up to 90MB/s, and will be shipping sometime in the fourth quarter for $200. http://bit.ly/294Q1If

Share

Upgrades/storage163d

Apple's third-quarter results due July 26

Apple has advised it will be issuing its third-quarter results on July 26, with a conference call to answer investor and analyst queries about the earnings set to take place later that day. The stream of the call will go live at 2pm PT (5pm ET) via Apple's investor site, with the results themselves expected to be released roughly 30 minutes before the call commences. Apple's guidance for the quarter put revenue at between $41 billion and $43 billion. http://apple.co/1oi1Pbm

Share

Investor164d

Twitter stickers slowly roll out to users

Twitter has introduced "stickers," allowing users to add extra graphical elements to their photos before uploading them to the micro-blogging service. A library of hundreds of accessories, props, and emoji will be available to use as stickers, which can be resized, rotated, and placed anywhere on the photograph. Images with stickers will also become searchable with viewers able to select a sticker to see how others use the same graphic in their own posts. Twitter advises stickers will be rolling out to users over the next few weeks, and will work on both the mobile apps and through the browser. http://bit.ly/29bbwUE